X-Men: Endangered Species

Collects the X-Men: Endangered Species one-shot and the seventeen Endangered Species chapters originally published in X-Men #200-204, Uncanny X-Men #488-491, X-Factor #21-24 and New X-Men #40-42, written by Mike Carey, Christopher Yost and Christos Gage with art by Scott Eaton, Mark Bagley, Mike Perkins, Tom Grummett and Andrea Divito.

The mutant population has been in a crisis since the Scarlet Witch mumbled her famous last words during M Day, and the X-Men are worried that this may be the end for Homo Superior. The Beast, in particular, has been busy trying to solve the mystery through science, but with no luck. His lack of success in this regard leads him to seeking help among old enemies which leads to a surprising ally in Dark Beast, with whom he sets out to find a solution once and for all. During this quest, Beast has to question himself and his beliefs and do things of questionable moral integrity which provokes more soul searching and character development than you'll get to see in a whole year of the regular X-Men titles (Astonishing excepted...).

This book serves as the connection between House of M and Messiah CompleX, but most importantly it is Beast's story. He is not only the main character of the story, he is what the story is about. During the story we see Beast interact with other science characters, and especially Dark Beast is interesting in this regard. Beast is a man (mutant) of science, and science is morally neutral, that is, science's morals are defined by whoever uses science. Beast has high morals himself, but Dark Beast is the exact opposite, and Beast is forced to ackowledge that Dark Beast's lower morals may be helpful when he himself has run out of ideas. The Beast's moral dilemma is finely exposed in the relationship between these two characters, and the character of Beast is made that much richer by it. This book proves that Beast can easily carry a story on his own, while presenting a good tale of going to great lengths to apply science where science really isn't applicable.

The story is paced much slower than any of the other X-Men stuff I've read recently, and this is a good thing, because it can be a little hard to keep up some times. Plenty of page space is dedicated to character development and this pays off in the quality of the story. There is an unsually low amount of fighting for an X-book, but again this feels like a nice breath of fresh air. And yet, the book does feel like an X-book, probably due to the numerous references to characters and events from those books.

With so many writers and artists doing the same story, one might be worried that the cohesiveness of the story would take a hit, but this is not the case with his book. The artists all have similar styles, and all contribute to the overall dark mood of the book. There are no problems with characters suddenly speaking with a different voice either, so kudos to the editors for organizing what must have been a bit of puzzle.

This is a good prologue to Messiah CompleX and a very good story about Beast. If you read House of M and Decimation and are curious as to what happens with the mutants after that or are planning on reading Messiah CompleX, you should consider getting this. If you're a fan of the Beast, you should definitely get this.

7/10

Fallen Son: The Death Of Captain America

Collects Fallen Son: Wolverine, Fallen Son: Avengers, Fallen Son: Captain America, Fallen Son: Spider-Man and Fallen Son: Iron Man, all written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Leinil Yu, Ed McGuinness, John Romita Jr., David Finch and John Cassaday (in that order).

The Civil War is over, and as the dust settles each side count their dead. Among those is Steve Rogers aka. Captain America. This came as a shock, not only to the denizens of the MU, but to comic book fans and news-starved journalists alike. This book chronicles how the Marvel heroes collectively deal with the loss of their spiritual mentor, while at the same time hinting at what came before and what will come after.

There's not much of an an actual plot here, instead each chapter is based on one of the phases of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). I think this a great idea with lots of potential, but unfortunately that potential isn't realized very well. For a story that is supposed to be about deep emotions, it reads surprisingly much like a normal super hero comic book, that is with lots of heroes and villains duking it out while posing and slugging one-liners at each other. In fact, only the last chapter isn't built around a big fight.

Although I do recognize that an attempt has been made to have each chapter treat one phase, I just don't think this has been done very succesfully. For example, in the chapter titled Anger, the New Avengers sit around a table playing poker all the time (while the Mighty Avengers take on Tiger Shark, yes, Tiger Shark...). And in the chapter titled bargaining, the only bargaining done is Iron Man trying to talk Hawkeye into becoming the new Captain America (and I don't buy into Iron Man doing this to make the grief go away, that's just silly). The last two chapters are somewhat better, in fact the very last chapter is pretty good, although it gets a little too Hollywood emotional for my taste.

I think what I'm really missing here is mood. In a story that at it's core is about emotions, hitting the right mood is essential. And part of the problem with that stems from the art. Marvel has gathered five of it's top artists to do this book, and at first glance the art looks great. There are pages that will blow you away, and since each chapter features different characters, the cohesiveness of the book isn't really affected by the many different artists. But somehow the pairing of artists and phases of grief seems to be a little skewed at times. E.g. why have McGuinness, who is otherwise a great artist, do the anger chapter, when he is known for a rather clean and slick drawing style? Wouldn't e.g. Finch be more suited for an angry story? And why have Finch, also a great artist, do the depression chapter, when his strength lies more in the veins of action and posing?

It's not that this book is bad, it's just that it's not very good. And with a star lineup like this, it should have been better. If what you're looking for is a string of stories featuring major Marvel heroes and drawn by some of the best artists Marvel can dig up, you might like this. But if you're looking for something more daring, a story about emotions of loss and a proper farewell to Steve Rogers, this one falls a little short.

4/10

October picks

The leaves are falling off the trees outside my window, so what better way to kill time than to sit down and look through tpb solicitations for October!

Marvel has finally decided to reprint Marvel Zombies vol. 1 which has been impossible to get for a long while now. As everyone has been talking about this one, and I don't like not to be in the know, this is pretty high on my pull list. I managed to dig out an old CBR interview with Kirkman and Phillips.

Also from Marvel is Daredevil: Crual and Unusual. I haven't been reading Daredevil lately, but I do mean to start doing it, so I might try to figure out a good jumping on point. This could be it.

Only a couple of months after One More Day, Spider-Man fans are treated with the first Brand New Day tpb. I've heard lots of good stuff about this one, so I'm definitely getting this. I managed to find a CBR interview with Guggenheim from around the time this was originally published.

The good times don't stop here, however, as Marvel is also releasing X-Men: Messiah Complex and Mighty Avengers vol. 2: Venom Bomb in October! It's a big month for Marvel, and my wallet will be that much lighter for it... I'm still pretty angry with Marvel for releasing the tpb version of Messiah Complex after Divided We Stand, but both Brand New Day and Mighty Avengers: Venom Bomb are released quite shortly after the latest books of those series, so I consider that a small compensation. I can live with delays due to artisis taking their time, but I don't want to hear about delays caused by consideratins of sales of HC versions!

These days I mainly read Marvel, but I also keep an eye on what's coming out from other publishers. DC is releasing Ex Machina vol. 7: Ex Cathedra, Hellblazer: The Family Man, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier (TPB) and Northlanders vol. 1: Sven the Returned.

I haven't read Ex Machina myself, but I've been told it's pretty good, so I'll probably give it a try some day. I remember Harris from when he was drawing Starman (written by James Robinson). That's a great series, and I was very impressed with Harris' artwork.

I used to buy the Hellblazer monthlies and when I was reading it, it was an excellent series. I definitely recommend trying it out, although the art work can be a little so-so in the early issues.

The two League... books that's been published are excellent comic books, highly recommended. Black Dossier is supposed to be a sort of Official Handbook for the series. I heard it's pretty heavy on text, so if lots of characters makes your head hurt you should be careful with this.

Northlanders has been gathering some attention, and since it's the first book of the series I'll try this one. Also, it's about vikings so it can't be totally bad. Here's an interview with the writer of the series, Brian Wood.

That's what I've put on my list of books to look out for in October. If you agree or disagree or you feel I missed out on something, please feel free to drop a comment. Thanks to Collected Comics Library for compiling the solicitations list!

Astonishing X-Men Vol. 4: Unstoppable

Collects Astonishing X-Men #19-24 and Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 written by Josh Whedon and drawn by John Cassaday.

The X-Men find themselves on the way to the Breakworld, the alien world about which it has been prophesied that it will be destroyed by Colossus. They've been hijacked by the mysterious agent Brand to thwart the Breakworldian's plan of destroying the Earth to save their own planet. On Breakworld the X-Men get caught up in a civil war between the totalitarian establishment and an underground group of rebels, and they must race against time to save not just one but two worlds. Along the way the reader gets heart pounding action, warm emotions and a story that at it's core is about human nature taken to the extreme. This book draws together all the plot threads that Whedon and Cassaday has been sprinkling throughout their run, and it all ends with a magnificent finale.

Whedon and Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men has been receiving tons of praise, and even a couple of awards, so I may just be piling more on top of that by saying that this is a damn good book. It won't just leave you gasping for more, you'll be, yes, i believe the expression is 'flabbergasted'.

When Whedon writes dialogue, it reads like real super heroes talking. When Cassaday draws characters they don't just pose and flex their muscles, they stand and move like real super heroes. The cast is mostly made up of characters from the X-Men's golden age (think Claremont/Byrne) and they even feel as if they were taken straight out of those stories. Each character has an important role to play in the story, and they all get panel space enough to play their part. Even Cyclops is pretty cool here, and doesn't feel as if he were just put in there to whine and argue with Wolverine.

On top of handling the characters perfectly, Whedon also delivers something which I think is rare in super hero comics: a really good story. Mind you, once in a while a good story pops up, but really good stories are rare. Whedon actually has something interesting to say here, and his story will make you think if you're receptive to such impulses. But that doesn't stop the two creators from packaging the story in a blast of an action packed and thrilling tale, and thus the book, as well as the whole run, serves as a perfect example of how great super hero comics can be. Whedon and Cassaday give here a powerful display of that rare and miraculous skill it is to be able to combine a magnificent story with subtle characterization. This is as good as Millar and Hitch's Ultimates, maybe even up there with classics like the Phoenix Saga.

When the chapters in this book came out as single issues, the book was criticized for it's massive delays. With this book as my exhibit A, I will argue that it was all worth it. And if people are tired of delays between single issues, they should just wait for the trades... I will recommend this book to anyone, just remember that you should read the three books that come before it. But don't worry, they're just as good. If you want to read X-Men, this is the best book you can get. In fact, it's probably the best book that Marvel has put in a long while. The only bad thing about it is that it's also the end of Whedon and Cassaday's run on Astonishing X-Men...

10/10

Spider-Man: One More Day

Collects Amazing Spider-Man #544-545, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 and Sensational Spider-Man #41 written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by Joe Quesada. Also contains interviews with Straczynski and Quesada taken from Marvel Spotlight: Spider-Man - One More Day/Brand New Day.

This book could also have been called Spider-Man: The Retconning. Or maybe Spider-Man: Continuity Kills. Or how about Spider-Man: Spidey's Life Sure Has Become A Mess Lately, But Now We're Gonna Start All Over And Also, MJ Has To Go. After six years of Straczynski, it's time to start all over for our arachnic friend, and it all starts here. This is not so much a Spider-Man story as it is a meta story, a story between stories, or continuities if you will. It hints at the beginning of a new age of Spider-Man, a simpler Spider-Man that is closer to what originally made him great. It's also a farewell to a character that readers of Spider-Man have grown to love (or hate, depends on whether you're an MJ-guy or a Gwen-guy...) and a farewell to a writer who will be remembered for revitalizing the series but also for a couple of stories that made fans cry for all the wrong reasons. I know this story received a lot of criticism when it originally came out, so I'm probably going to catch some flak when I say that I actually quite enjoyed it.

This book highlights what I consider the strength and weakness of the American style of comics, namely the heavy focus on continuity. Continuity has given us great story lines and magnificent runs and Spider-Man is a prime example of this. To this day people are still discussing whether Gwen Stacy was or was not the right girl for Peter Parker, and at a certain level that is great. But at the same time continuity makes a book more and more complex while at the same time restraining the writers. And sometimes the best thing to do is to start all over. Marvel's Ultimate line is proof of this, and I don't think it's a coincidence that Marvel's original universe is beginning to look more and more like the Ultimate universe.

Considering the consequences of what is going on here, whether the story itself is well told or not becomes a minor issue. But it just so happens that Straczynski does deliver on this, his final Spider-Man story. The plot itself is not important, what is important is the words, the feelings and the emotions. Peter and MJ know that this is the end, even though they don't want it. And Straczynski and Quesada actually succeed in conveying the sadness of the situation very well. The story is very emotional, and old time Spidey readers will have a hard time not felling a tear or two. A lot of effort has gone into making a story where the pictures talk as loud as the words, and it seems that Straczynski and Quesada have had a good understanding of each other when working on this book.

I have to admit I was surprised at the relatively high quality of the art in this book. It's been a while since Quesada did something like this, but apparently he hasn't lost the touch. Danny Miki is credited as inking part of the book, and I suspect this is the latter half, because that half does look a lot better than the first, which is a little rough in places. This book certainly leaves me wanting for Quesada to do more artwork, but I understand he's pretty busy doing other stuff, so it probably isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Whether you will like this story or not is going to depend on several things. First, do you want Spider-Man to start all over? Second, do you want to see MJ go? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you might want to find something else to read. If you're open for change, I suggest you give it a try.

7/10

X-Men: Blinded By The Light

Collects X-Men #200-204 written by Mike Carey with art by Humberto Ramos, Chris Bachalo and Mike Choi.

This book starts pretty much where X-Men: Supernovas ended. The X-Men, led by Rogue who is still suffering from being the unfortunate host of some 8 billion alien minds, is investigating a series of mysterious murders, which leads them into an ambush set up by the Marauders. To make matters worse, the Marauders have planted traitors in the X-Men's midst, and the X-Men face defeat at the hands of their enemies. Only Iceman and Cannonball manage to escape, and they must try to find out what the Marauder's true goal is. This leads them back to the X Mansion, where more mayhem ensues, again with the defeat of the X-Men as the end result. Meanwhile, New X-Woman Blindfold is having disturbing visions of the future, and the book ends with her setting up the stage for the next big X-event, Messiah Complex.

As usual with Carey, a lot of stuff is going on here, and the reader better pay attention, or important details might go lost. Also, this book is not for the uninitiated, and solid knowledge of most matters X is an advantage. Old fans will cheer (or grind their teeth, it depends I guess...) at the return of Gambit, and although a Gambit/Rogue subplot is not taken to it's end, there is certainly one set up here. There are a couple of surprises here, namely the traitors (no names given here...) and the return of Gambit, and this, combined with a good dose of well executed action, makes for a very entertaining read. One thing that I particularly enjoyed was that the X-Men really get their behinds handed to them in this book without actually accomplishing anything, something which we rarely see to this degree.

The focus in this book is on minor X-characters, mostly Iceman and Cannonball and the New X-Men is also given a good deal of space. Iceman and Cannonball are both interesting characters. They compliment each other well, and turn out to be good vehicles for keeping the story moving. Given the number of characters and the amount of pages dedicated to action scenes, however, character moments can seem rushed, but I guess this isn't really what the fans crave anyway...

The story is divided into four chapters and an epilogue, and the idea is obviously that it will lead up to Messiah Complex. How this flows together with Endangered Species, another lead-up to Messiah Complex, I don't know, but the stories ran in the same issues, so I guess it all works out.

The art is all very good, with Ramos handling most of it and doing a good job. Whether you like Ramos' distinct style is a matter of taste, I personally think it suits the X-Men well, and I particularly enjoy the action scenes. The combination of Iceman and Cannonball make for some quite spectacular visuals at times, and the sheer number of different characters being put on the pages here is quite mind numbing. The only complaint I have here is that the art of the main story and the art of the epilogue are so different in style, that the visual cohesiveness of the book is degraded some, but one might argue that Choi's style actually suits the epilogue better than Ramos's would. Although Choi is obviously an accomplished artist, I don't really fancy the way he makes the eyes look as if they were air brushed on the page, I think it looks a little girlie...

This was in many ways a very satisfying read, but you should be warned that it's pretty complex due to the dense plot and large number of characters appearing. Of course, many, including myself, see this as a good thing, and it is one of the reasons the X-Men have such a strong fan base. The book continues in the same vein as X-Men: Supernovas, but overall it's more focused, and this provides for a slightly better read. It's hard to set them apart, though, and they could just as well have been collected as one book. X-Men: Blinded... doesn't really stand on it's own storywise, so if you decide to get it, you should be prepared to also make shelf space for at least X-Men: Messiah Complex and probably also X-Men: Supernovas.

7/10

World War Hulk Event

This is a review of the WWH event as a whole, not just the main WWH book. For a review of the book go here. This is also the final review of my World War Hulk Review Marathon, and I must say I've been looking forward to getting here. The event hasn't been all shiny pearls and now I'm looking forward to reading some non-Hulk books!

The quality of an event like WWH is naturally very dependent on the quality of the main book, and although this is certainly a decent read, it is by no means top of the pops. My main fault with this book is that although it constantly attempts to convince the reader that this is pretty much the greatest crisis to ever happen in the MU, I was far from convinced that this was really the case. I read about Galactus in FF. I read about Dark Phoenix. And I read about a thousand other Marvel stories where the fate of the world was hanging by a thread. And this story just does not give me the same feeling of impending doom that many of those other stories did. In essence, the main book fails to set the atmosphere for the event as a whole.

The spin-off titles of the event are a varied bunch. The best ones are the Marvel event mainstays: Front Line and Damage Control, but the WWH: X-Men book also has some pretty good stories in it, specifically Avengers: The Initiative and Iron Man. I would recommend people to not buy the Gamma Corps and Warbound books. They are both of outrageously low quality and actually detract from the overall enjoyment of the event. The rest of the books I recommend to those who actually want to read the whole thing.

Except for Front Line and Damage Control and maybe Inredible Herc, however, the spin-offs don't really add a lot to the event. It's as if there's been little or no editorial work done here to give the stories a sense of unity, and this is a shame because that could potentially have made reading the whole event that much more rewarding.

I also find it strange that there are stories with characters that are completely unrelated to the main story, such as the X-Men and Ghost Rider, but no stories with some of the characters that are most affected by it, such as the Inhumans, the Fantastic Four and Dr. Strange. These are of course touched upon in the main book, but wouldn't it be obvious to go deeper with each character in their own series?

World War Hulk should probably be thought of as a fill-in event between Civil War and Secret Invasion. You won't see the MU in a different light after reading this, and the staus quo is pretty much the same as before. If anything, it does tell a story where major Marvel characters do questionable things, although the whole sending the Hulk into outer space thing actually happened before WWH...

I recommend getting the main book to those who like to read major Marvel events, just don't expect to be rolling around on the floor with joy. If you get the main book, I also recommend getting the Front Line and Damage Control books. The other books I recommend to those who get the main book, and who also have an interest in the characters featured or who want to get a glimpse of some Marvel books they otherwise wouldn't read. Just stay away from the Gamma Corps and Warbound books!

5/10